NAPERVILLE – The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) selected Wheaton men’s swimming & diving student-athlete Anthony Fitzgerald as its 2024 Men’s Student-Athlete of the Year on Friday morning.
 
The CCIW Men's Student-Athlete of the Year award honors senior men's athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Fitzgerald was selected through nomination and voting processes conducted by the league’s Senior Woman Administrators and Faculty Athletics Representatives. 
 
He is the first swimming & diving student-athlete to earn CCIW Men’s Student-Athlete of the Year honors and joins Leif Van Grinsven (2019) and Corey Kennedy (2020) as student-athletes from Wheaton to win the award.
 
Fitzgerald earned six All-America honors during his career – three in the 100 breaststroke and three in the 200 breaststroke. Last spring at the NCAA Championships, he finished third in the 200 in 1:56.83, the 11th-fastest time in Division III history. The Irvine, Calif. native was also a national qualifier in the 100 butterfly.
 
At the conference level, Fitzgerald was an 11-time winner at the CCIW Championships, a three-time CCIW Student-Athlete of the Year in men’s swimming and twice won Student-Athlete of the Meet at the CCIW Championships. He owns CCIW and Wheaton records in the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 200 individual medley.
 
In the classroom, Fitzgerald owns a 3.95 cumulative grade-point average in political science and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Wheaton last spring. He collected a pair of Academic All-America selections (2023, 2024) from College Sports Communicators and was a four-time College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-American. He was named to Wheaton’s Dean’s List in all eight semesters and earned four consecutive Academic All-Conference honors from the CCIW, twice being named Wheaton’s CCIW Jack Swartz Award winner.
 
Fitzgerald served as Wheaton’s Senior Class President in 2023-24. He was also a men’s small group leader at WC, planning and leading weekly gatherings of underclassmen and mentoring younger students in navigating the pressures of college life. Fitzgerald is also a volunteer swim coach in his hometown of Irvine, worked with children regarding water safety and is a volunteer at Trellis Homeless Storage Center in Costa Mesa, Calif.

CCIW Men's Student-Athletes of the Year
2023-24 – Anthony Fitzgerald – Wheaton (Men’s Swimming & Diving)
2022-23 – Steven Hermsen – Carroll (Men’s Track & Field)
2021-22 – Steven Hermsen – Carroll (Men's Track & Field)
2020-21 – Jake Reinhardt – North Park (Baseball)
2019-20 – Corey Kennedy – Wheaton (Football)
2018-19 – Leif Van Grinsven – Wheaton (Men's Track & Field)
2017-18 – Sam Totten – Augustana (Men's Tennis) 
2016-17 – Eric Rydell – Illinois Wesleyan (Men's Track & Field)
2015-16 – Max Leonard – Illinois Wesleyan (Men's Track & Field)
2014-15 – David Voland – Augustana (Men's Track & Field)
2013-14 – Erik Westerberg – Augustana (Football)
2012-13 – Tim Ahlberg – North Park (Men's Soccer)
2011-12 – Josh Startup – North Park (Football)
2010-11 – Steve Djurickovic – Carthage (Men's Basketball)
2009-10 – Alex Knobloch – North Central (Men's Cross Country/Track & Field)
2008-09 – Ben Youel – North Central (Men's Wrestling)
2007-08 – Adam Johnson – North Central (Men's Wrestling)